FAQ

It depends on  series of factors that during all the route, from choice of olives to right grade of ripening, from type of extraction up to storage modalities of the obtained oil, contribute to determining the quality of  the same.

In order to obtain a good oil it is essential to start from  excellent  raw material: the olive.

A consumer who wants to verify by himself the features of an oil, needs to be careful to the fragrance: in this almost all most important information are concentrated  . To identify them, pour a little quantity of oil in a little glass with the base larger than  the hole (or in a spoon); warm  it up for one minute with the hand  and  sniff  it. The first smell of high quality oil is fruity: the same you can obtain crushing a fresh olive in your fingers. Then you will proceed to the actual tasting by putting a little oil between your teeth and lips and, with closed  teeth aspiring firmly to vaporize seasoning in the mouth. In this way, besides the fruity, you will be able to smell many pleasant aromas, depending on the variety of olives and  the type of processing.

The finest oils, produced with unriped and freshly picked olives, have a marked “intense” flavour; those born from  more mature fruits a sweeter taste, called “delicate”. Defects may be due to a bad harvest, to errors of processing.

If the olives have been  kept piled long before pressing, the taste will be “heated”, and  if the oil has already begun to alter, that will be  “rancid”.

A  bad oil may even  taste of “mould” or “metal” and  the absence of  flavours or aromas is already a serious defect.

It is a statement  that has no meaning because all the oils come from “first and only” pressing.

Thanks to the presence of  more stable fatty acids than  those found  in seed oils, extra virgin olive oil is ideal for frying. In fact, the critical temperature of extra virgin olive oil (the point of smoke) is significantly higher than  the usual temperature of frying food. The other fats such as butter, margarins and the most common seed oils, have a significantly lower critical temperature and during frying they lead  to the formation of a croleum and other oxidation damaging substances harmful to health.

It is the percentage of  free fatty acids contained  in the oil and indicates the greater or less degradation  of the oils from which  it is obtained, the less it is the more the olives were in good condition.

The oil capacity is not perceptible to taste but it can only be  surpassed  with a chemical analysis.

It is therefore not  to be confused  the tingling of fresh and  healthy oils with the higher acidity.

They are antioxidant substances that, like and  even more than vitamin E, slow down the ossification or aging of the cells of our body. They have a slightly bitter and  pungent taste that characterizes the high quality oils, they are distributed  to a large extent in nature as well as in oil, fruit and especially in the grape skin where they are also responsible for its colouring.

In some cases the oil bottled  “unfiltered”   , with thermal excursion during storage settles on the product  but  it is not affected  by any problem.

It is the method  of checking the quality of the oil based on the score expressed  by a commission of tasters. With the tests of determination of personal sensitivity thresholds, 10 tasters trained to appreciate  the characteristic taste of virgin oils are selected. According  to a guide card, tasters, in a separate and autonomous way, ascertain the presence and  the intensity of the basic system and in terms of these, identify a scaling of scores or set the most appropriate numerical evaluation with values from 1 to 9; the average of the data scores is then made from every tasters and , if the calculation  of  the value on the average admits its reliability, the average value constitutes the numerical evaluation of the organoleptic characteristics of the oil.

It’s necessary to consume the oil within 18 months from  the bottling date indicated on  the label.

In the following period it doesn’t become harmful but degrades from the organoleptic and nutritional point of view.

The intensity of  the colour of the oil doesn’t indicate a greater genuineness as the density and  the colour varies with the variation of the  production area, the variety and  the degree of  ripening of the olives.